The streets ran green, the Guinness flowed free

Adam Smith cooks an omelet for Kent State alumna Natalie Bridges. Bridges said she was planning to stay at the bar the whole day and just have a good time with friends. KATIE ROUPE | DAILY KENT STATER

Credit: Jason Hall

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Kegs ‘n’ Eggs

In celebration of St. Patrick driving the snakes out of Ireland, about 100 people were waiting to scarf down a breakfast of champions outside the Brewhouse Saturday morning.

As early as 5 a.m., a sea of people dressed in green anxiously waited in the cold, ready to chug green beer and chow down on green eggs. Many were also hoping to get a free T-shirt and hat, given to the first 200 customers.

“When I got here at 5, about 100 people were already waiting in line,” said Steve Scerbovsky, senior history major and doorman at the Brewhouse. “By the time we opened at 5:30, there were already 200 people.”

At about 6 a.m., the speakers started blasting the most Irish music of all – Lynyrd Skynyrd – to set the mood for karaoke.

Amid the hundreds of green-T-shirt-wearing drinkers was Justin Fara, who stood out from the crowd. The senior architect major decided to sport a pink polo shirt with a popped collar because he is “Polish and proud of it.”

At 7 a.m., Glory Days opened to a much more intimate crowd. A group of four Glory Days regulars were the first in line. They were also the first to get served breakfast by chef Adam Smith from the Bistro on Main, who was there preparing omelets, potatoes and mimosas for $5.

“He (Smith) was here last year and was a big hit with students,” Mike Beder, owner of Glory Days, said. By 8 a.m., Smith was manning three skillets for a line of about 30 people.

Beder said St. Patrick’s Day is the best day of the year for his bar.

“With St. Patrick’s being on a Saturday this year, it should be even better than normal,” Beder said. “People don’t have school or work to get in the way.”

Glory Days bartender Kiley Kennedy was working her first St. Patrick’s Day.

“I’m excited,” senior English major Kiley said. “I’ve heard I can probably pay a month’s rent in tips.”

By about 9 a.m., BW3s was at maximum occupancy. One group inside was only drinking Irish drinks – Jameson, Guinness, Harp and Irish Car Bombs.

Junior finance major Jason Connell proudly announced he was 50 percent Irish. He and three friends arrived at 5:30 a.m., and said waking up for drinking was a lot easier than waking up for class.

The nightlife

Though “Kegs ‘n’ Eggs” had long finished by sunset, Kent city streets continued to run green Saturday night when hundreds flocked downtown to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.

By 8 p.m., bars such as The Loft were crammed with people desperate to escape the snowfall with friends and pitchers of green beer.

At Ray’s Place, those who entered were given green beads, hats and plastic horns at the door by bouncers who wondered how many times they would hear Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing.”

At 9 p.m., on Ray’s second level, friends gathered at tables with green mugs and fake wigs.

Senior marketing major Josh Sommers joined junior exploratory major Chad Davidson and junior archeology major Ryan Cosier in noisily blowing on their fake trumpets.

“I came here after I got kicked out of The Loft,” Sommers said. “I was smoking, and they told me to leave. And I poured beer on my head. A word of advice: Pour beer on someone else’s head.”

In the Ray’s Place women’s bathroom, a mother cleaned her green-clad toddler, who had just gotten ill from chocolate milk. They were pushed aside by another woman rushing to be ill in one of the stalls.

Meanwhile, at the Robin Hood Music Bar, the band Roadside played to a crowd of more than 100 on a dimly lit stage decorated with green balloons. More filtered through the door through the night to meet friends or watch bands Asleep and Bonk.

Next door, the cars of those who made the bad decision to park at Wendy’s were being towed.

By 9:20 p.m., the second level of Mugs Brew Pub and Sports Grill was alive with a DJ, more than 70 drinkers and a lively dance floor.

The most distinguishable dancer was Ravenna resident Dave Lansky, clothed in a green belly shirt, black cyclist pants, knee-high yellow boots and a tall, green, clover-topped hat.

“I dress up every year, but this is definitely my craziest outfit yet,” Lansky said under a dyed-red beard. “But you know, it’s St. Paddy’s Day!”

Close by at BW3, tables were crammed with friends enjoying wings and Guinness in front of wall projections. By 10:30 p.m., four men and women in green hats created a makeshift dance floor between some tables and jumped to Irish punk band Flogging Molly’s “Drunken Lullabies.”

On Water Street, Paul Schultz, junior leisure studies major, and two of his roommates stumbled out of The Brewhouse to wait for a designated driver to take them home.

“Oh my God, we had such a great time in there,” Schultz said. “We were dancing and drinking all night. This is the best St. Paddy’s ever.”

Contact public affairs reporters Kurt Jakub at [email protected], Jennifer Mussig at [email protected] and Ally Melling at [email protected].